Vlotbrug

It is a special kind of floating Retractable bridges at the Great North Holland Canal which pivot either centrally or from one or both banks of a body of water to allow vessels to pass through.

One old, undated, photograph (see the Gallery, below: De Scholle, Vroomshoop, Overijssel province, eastern Netherlands) shows a canal with jetties on both banks connected by a moveable roadway.

The roadway is wooden, is equipped with guard rails, and has upwardly-sloping portions at each end which communicate with the fixed structures.

The roadway may have been simply a modified rectangular boat of the punt type (Dutch: vlet).

The names of the modern villages Burgervlotbrug and Sint Maartensvlotbrug in North Holland suggest they may have been new settlements around a vlotbrug.

They are equipped with fenders based on piles driven into the canal bed, to protect the fixed structures against accidental damage from watercraft.

[6][7][8][9][10] After an accident in 2012 at Burgervlotbrug (for which the skipper of a river barge was blamed), it was asked whether or not vlotbruggen have a place in the 21st century.

[16][17] As of 2017[update], five operating vlotbruggen exist, all crossing the Noordhollandsch Kanaal in North Holland.